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Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Wow, it is hard to believe that half of the 2014-2015 school year has flown by! A lot of amazing things have happened in the three school libraries I serve during the first half of this school year (and there is more yet to come)! Frustratingly enough, I haven't been able to blog like I would love to about what is happening at Harding Elementary, Jefferson Elementary, and Lincoln Intermediate.

Over winter break, I suffered severe writer's block. I wanted to blog but I didn't know where to start. I wondered if followers of my blog would want to read about what happened for the first part of the 2014-15 school year (September-December 2014), even though it was long past gone. If my blog followers did want to read about the amazing things that happened at Harding Elementary, Jefferson Elementary, and Lincoln Intermediate during the first part of this school year, I questioned how I would share these amazing moments. Should I share all these amazing moments in one super long blog post, or blog "Throwback Thursday" posts to address specific events in greater detail? I questioned myself on what should I write about that would make a great blog post to set the stage for awesome future blog posts. Obviously, I am putting way too much pressure on myself.

Then two incredible things happened.

First incredible thing that happened to me...

Last Wednesday, January 7, 2015, Mason City Schools was cancelled for the day due to the bone-chilling temperatures. The minute I found out school was cancelled, I immediately thought that this might be the perfect chance to get back to blogging. Well, once again the pressure got to me, and I wasn't getting out of "the starting blocks," for lack of better words.

Then something "Godsend" happened. My incredible friend, Sandi Ellis, a fellow rock-star teacher-librarian, (K-8 Dallas Center Grimes Teacher-Librarian) texted me to ask if I wanted to chat via Google Hangout in the afternoon! Of course, I wanted to chat with Sandi! So, at 1:00pm, Sandi and I connected via Google Hangout to chat about what was happening in our personal lives and then we got to business talking about tons of various topics in the teacher-librarian world.

We chatted about the Iowa Goldfinch Award, the upcoming Iowa Association School Library Conference, how we are going to miss Solon CSD teacher-librarian Kathy Kaldenberg after she retires at the end of this school year, lesson ideas, and technology (coding, apps, etc.).

On a side note, Sandi was also entertained by my two sons, Levi (5 years old) and Jacob (3 years old). My two sons decided it was time for "show-and-tell" as they wanted to show her their new collection of Nerf dart guns they received as Christmas gifts. Of course, Sandi giggled and told me that my world of two sons is quite different than her world of two daughters.

Then she asked me about my blog and why I haven't blogged. I confided to her about my "writer's block" and the pressure I was putting on myself to write "the most perfect" blog post. I also shared my same doubts to her that I had mentioned above. Sandi LOVED the "Throwback Thursday" blog posts idea, and encouraged me to blog within the next week. Sandi's encouragement was exactly what I needed! I needed someone, like Sandi, to encourage and inspire me to start blogging again.

Unfortunately, after chatting for approximately two hours via Google Hangout, my boys decided they wanted my full attention again, so they decided to get my attention by wrestling which turned into a fight that required "mommy intervention." Sadly, Sandi and I said our goodbyes and promised to stay in touch again.

Second amazing thing that happened to me...

This weekend, I saw the following quote on Facebook that also inspired me to start blogging again!

It made me realize that I truly don't have "writer's block!" Instead, I was afraid to start over, meaning start blogging again. What truly sparked my motivation to start blogging again was reading the part of the quote that said, "It's a chance to rebuild what you want." So, this blog post brings about a new chance to rebuild that brings new beginnings and fresh starts.

Finally, I saw this on Pinterest this morning, and this is truly what sparked me to blog today...

So, today marks the first day of a new year with a new book, waiting to be written! It truly is my chance to start back blogging to write a beautiful story about the amazing things happening at Harding Elementary, Jefferson Elementary, and Lincoln Intermediate for the remainder of the year!

Stay tuned for future blog posts about...

Current events happening at Harding, Jefferson, and Lincoln

"Throwback Thursday" Blog Posts about the first half of the 2014-15 school year...